The Brewers made Devin Williams bend, but he didn’t break on Opening Day.
The Yankees’ new closer didn’t enjoy the smoothest debut, allowing an earned run over 36 pitches in the ninth inning on Thursday. However, the right-hander managed to shut the door on a 4-2 win over his former team in the Bronx.
“I didn’t think my command was the best today, to be honest with you, but they also laid off some really good pitches at times,” Williams said after his first save in pinstripes. “I think they had a really good plan against me. There’s no one that knows me better than that team over there. So they really made me work for this one.”
That they did, as Joey Ortiz started the final frame with a single before Isaac Collins ripped a double to center. Pinch-hitter Jake Bauers, a former Yankee, then drew a walk before Brice Turang plated Ortiz with a sac fly to center to make it a two-run game. Collins advanced to third on the play, and Bauers then stole second, giving Milwaukee two runners in scoring position with one away.
However, Williams recorded Jackson Chourio’s fifth strikeout of the day on an eight-pitch at-bat. Then Williams fanned Christian Yelich after seven pitches.
Good thing he did, as the former MVP was going to be Williams’ last batter with Fernando Cruz warming in the bullpen.
“Love that he didn’t break,” Aaron Boone said afterward. “He just kept making pitches. And I’m sure too, at the end, he was tired. I was getting very uncomfortable with where he was from a pitch count standpoint.”
As Yelich whiffed at a high, inside, 95-mph fastball for the last pitch of the game, the typically soft-spoken Williams pumped his arms and let out a roar. Yankees catcher Austin Wells then ran toward the mound for a hug before the Bombers shook hands.
Asked how he was able to escape the jam, Williams said that he simply stayed focused on the next pitch.
“You can’t go back in time,” he continued, “so the only option is to move forward.”
“It’s just kind of my personality. I’m very laid back, low-key. There’s really no other option. It’s either I get this guy out, or we lose a game.”
While Williams certainly looked shaky in his first trip to Yankee Stadium’s mound, avoiding a meltdown earned him the Yanks’ WWE-style championship belt. The belt is awarded to the Yankees’ player of the game after wins, and Wells, Anthony Volpe and Carlos Rodón had worthy cases for it on Thursday.
Yet the belt was draped over Williams’ chair in the clubhouse.
“That was cool,” Williams said. “That just goes along with the mantra that we have around here: staying even-keel and continue to move on to the next pitch.”
Williams seemed to appreciate the gesture after an unusual day.
In addition to that bumpy ninth, he felt a bit out of place during pregame ceremonies. That’s understandable, as Williams spent the first six years of his career with the Brewers and still has close relationships with members of the team.
“It was different,” he said of facing Milwaukee. “When we did the opening ceremony and everything, looking across and seeing all the faces that I’m familiar with, being on the other side, it was kind of weird for me.”
Pitching in New York, however, didn’t seem to bother Williams.
While he wasn’t his sharpest, he said “it’s the same game in my mind.”
“Obviously there’s a little bit of different expectations and more eyes on you here,” he added, “but none of that’s going through my mind when I’m on the mound.”
